U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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Statistician Positions at FDA

Description of Position

FDA mathematical statisticians, in a non-laboratory setting, perform duties that include:

  • reviewing and evaluating scientific data and mathematical and statistical methods, and the procedures and concepts involved with New Drug Applications submitted by regulated industry for approval of new drugs
  • applying the following to a variety of situations and problems encountered in reviewing drug applications:
    • the principles and techniques of probability
    • theory, estimation, inference, and quality control
    • acceptance sampling, sequential, and other sampling plans
    • the principles and techniques of probability
    • experimental design
    • clinical research methods
    • tests of significance
    • data reduction

In a research setting, FDA mathematical statisticians might:

  • design and analyze complex biological experiments directed toward the determination of chronic, reproductive, and multi-generation effects of food additives and constituents on humans
  • design and evaluate various short-term exposure studies and their protocols to assess the need for long-term exposure studies on relevant chemicals.

Grade (Salary) Levels

The federal General Schedule (GS) grade levels at which these positions are most commonly filled are GS-11 through 15 at the headquarters level.

For a list of GS-grade salaries, see http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/B5A.htm.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications required for all grades in this position include:

  • a degree that includes 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, of which at least 12 semester hours are in mathematics and 6 semester hours are in statistics, or a combination of education and experience (at least 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, plus appropriate experience or other education)
  • additional amounts of either specialized experience or directly related education to qualify for higher graded positions. The amount of additional experience or education required depends on the grade of the position.

Geographic Location

FDA mathematical statisticians are located only in FDA headquarters (suburban Washington, D.C.).

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